Sheil Kapadia

Philly.com

Through four weeks, there is no shortage of questions surrounding the Eagles' defense.

Whether it's Juan Castillo, Nnamdi Asomugha, the linebackers or the Wide-9, this unit has had many of the same issues as the 2010 version, which got Sean McDermott fired.

Which leads us to a comment made by Frank Gore on ESPN's First Take Friday morning. Gore, who entered Sunday's game averaging 2.5 yards per carry, gashed the Birds' defense for 127 yards on 15 carries (8.5 YPC).

Once the 49ers began coming back, Gore said the Eagles basically gave up.

"I think the Eagles, they didn't want to play no more," he said. "We just kept pounding and kept pounding and kept making plays and we kind of knocked the fight out of them."

Those are strong words. Gore is saying that the Eagles quit.

Is he right? We'll find out definitively in the next two weeks whether this team, and specifically this defense, has any fight.

DID HERREMANS TARGET TUCK'S NECK?

Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck has been dealing with a "burner" on the right side of his neck. He thinks opposing offensive linemen are well aware of his injury and are targeting it.

"We’re just trying to give people not as much surface to be able to grab my face mask," Tuck said, adding: "They did it before the neck (injury), but it’s more amplified now.”

Tuck didn't mention Eagles right tackle Todd Herremans by name, but per Garafolo, that was probably who he was talking about. Garafolo went back and noticed a play at the 9:49 mark of the first quarter of the Week 3 game where Herremans grabbed Tuck's facemask and pushed him back.

I looked at the play too. Herremans definitely grabs Tuck's facemask and pushes him back, but I don't know that he was clearly targeting Tuck's injury. In other words, it didn't seem much different to me than other plays you might see on a weekly basis. Tuck made an inside move, and Herremans got his left hand up to stop him. LeSean McCoy actually helped out too on the play, staying in to block and delivering a blow to Tuck.

Either way, it's clear these two teams don't like each other. They face off again in Week 11 on Sunday night.

IMITATING DESEAN

And finally, in case you missed it, my guess is this scene has probably played out during many youth football games across the country in the past year.

Does this kid remind you of anyone? Perhaps a certain speedy receiver who returned a punt for a game-winning touchdown last year? Take a look. And thanks to Bleeding Green Nation for the link.